Marko - your webmaster

Based in the UK

Marko has fond memories of buying Warsaw and Komackino when they first came out. Joy Division once played practically
on his doorstep but he didn't bother to go because there would be plenty more chances to see them ...

"One of the first searches I ever did on the internet was for joy Division Bootlegs. I didn't find much so
I decided to create my own page. I thought there must be about 10 LPs and the page would be complete in about a
month. Many months later I was feeling pretty happy as I'd catalogued every LP I owned or could track down in old
catalogues - and I even had scans of a couple of them.

Then I got a 35 page email of corrections from a complete stranger called Erik ..."

Erik - "fan" and collector

Based in Norway ...

Erik remembers hearing Joy Division for the first time in 1981, and became seriously hooked (no pun intended) in
early 1982. After borrowing Closer and Still from a friend, and subsequently purchasing Unknown Pleasures, Joy
Division soon became his favourite band and has been ever since. Not being able to settle for just the relatively
few official releases he started looking for bootlegs too. Even if the music has always been the driving force
behind his interest in Joy Division, he also enjoys the collecting side of being into the band.

"When I eventually got on the Internet I immediately started searching for Joy Division web-sites, and
was very happy to come across one that was devoted to their bootlegs. I contacted Marko, and complemented him on
his work. I was able to provide some additional information about, and scans of, some issues that were not already
featured in detail on his site, and the rest is "history" as they say. It's been fun watching the page
expand, and I'm happy to have played a part in making it what it is today."

... and just when we thought the page was nearly complete we got an email from a complete stranger called Øyvind
...

Øyvind - collector and expert

Based in Norway too, what is it about Norway and Joy Division?

Øyvind started collecting vinyl in the late 60's and was mainly into the harder and more experimental
side of the so-called "progressive rock" or simply "prog rock" during the 70's. In the last
half of the decade he started to get bored of much of the rock music scene and moved more towards funk and jazz.
Then punk came - and he more or less watched it happen... Sex Pistols actually played some hundred meters away
from were he lived in july 1977 (Oslo, Norway as a matter of fact) and he didn't even bother to go to the show!
Blimey!

"It was "new wave" music in general and Joy Division in special who really sucked me into the
so called indie scene which were my main musical refuge during the 80's and early 90's. After hearing "Closer"
when it was released I was absolutely hooked on Joy Division and I started to collect everything that was released
(both legally and illegally). Then one day I suddenly saw this fantastic Joy Division bootleg site on the net and
I noticed that I actually had a couple of items that were not included on it. I contacted Marko and the rest is
history...

Chris - information addict

Based in the UK (not far from Marko)

I have been listening to Joy Division since 1979, but I only realised how important they were to me a few years
later when I found that much of the music I liked reminded me of Joy Division. So I went back and bought all of
their original material.

I regard myself as a listener rather than a serious collector. But although I have never felt the urge to hunt
down obscure bootlegs, I can be obsessive when collecting information about the band and when trying to make sense
of the lyrics.

I started the Shadowplay web site in 1996
when I first became seriously involved in web design. I wanted to use my new-found skills to build something useful,
and Joy Division seemed the obvious topic to choose! I worked on Shadowplay
for six years, in parallel with several other sites. For a variety of reasons I eventually decided that could no
longer continue to maintain all these sites. I offered my Joy Division material to Marko, and when the others asked
me to become the fourth member of their co-operative I agreed without hesitation.